This paper explores how a popular cultural domain can rapidly expand beyond the capacity of its expert community, leading to a shift from invention to imitation. The authors hypothesize that this "dilution of expertise" causes a decrease in diversity and an increase in information redundancy. This hypothesis is tested using three case studies: early personal computers and home consoles, social media posts, and cryptocurrencies. Each case study shows a departure from standard diffusion models during exponential growth, supporting the dilution of expertise hypothesis. A model is presented that recreates observed diversity, complexity, and boom-and-bust dynamics.

Salva Duran-Nebreda, Michael J. O'Brien, R. Alexander Bentley, Sergi Valverde